All businesses, particularly the smaller ones, need to know more about themselves if they are to get the most out of their markets, suggests local business and accounting adviser, Luci Ferrini.

Luci says not enough businesses make full use of the data readily available to them and this can make them vulnerable in the marketplace.

She says small business owners need to know:

• What return they are getting for their marketing dollar and how they sell themselves to customers;
• What their break even point is and what it costs to run their business;
• What their liquidity ratio is, which can change from time to time; and
• How much of every dollar that comes into the business goes to their suppliers, employees and other expenses.

And it is absolutely vital that small business owners know how much they are spending on advertising and promotions, what efficiency measures need to be put in place, and how effective these measures are.

Born in Trieste, Italy, Luci came to Australia with her parents at the age of two years and settled at Port Kembla where she attended St Patrick’s Primary School before completing her education at St Anne’s at Dapto.

On leaving school she took up clerical work in Sydney, and freely admits “life was a ball”. She then moved to live in Brisbane, which is where she says she really settled down. Later, after a move to Adelaide where her son was born, she completed a degree in economics and also finished a Diploma of Accounting.

Recruited by the Tax Office, Luci spent five years in Canberra before finally moving to Wollongong in 2007 when she decided to go into business, starting LF Accounting and Business Services, which she currently operates from her home at Shellharbour.

Comprehensive Service  

Luci says LF Accounting and Business Services offers a comprehensive management accounting service, with a particular bent towards helping small businesses.

“Quite simply we draw the attention of small business management to the points I’ve already raised and if the owners properly study the data available to them more success will follow,” she says.

Looking at the current financial scene, Luci says the Australian economy has been overheating and, as a result of the slow down, interest rates have now fallen which means that spending is still possible, but businesses must work smarter and remain prudent in how they spend.

She worries that too many small businesses are responding to the global economic crisis by tightening up their spending on non-income generating activities such as their accounting and marketing functions.

“And that’s how LF Accounting and Business Services can assist,” she says.

You can contact Luci for a free consultation by phoning her on 0408 407 642 or emailing her on ferrini@senet.com.au